Smoking Tri-Tip and Beef Ribs

[HogFan]

Seen some large beef ribs at the grocery store on sale so I picked up a rack to give them a try. Doesn't appear to be a lot of meat. I also picked up a tri-tip to smoke along with the ribs. I've had tri-tip once before but I grilled it like a steak instead of smoking it. OK, but I prefer a rib eye as a steak so I want to smoke this one and see how the family likes it.

So how do you smoke tri-tip and beef ribs? I'm thinking of cooking the tri-tip like a brisket and wrap in butcher paper after it hits the stall. What temps do you use and how long will it take?

Thanks!!!

[Mark Warren]

I would indirect heat smoke the steak until 120 then over the heat to get the grill marks and pull it at 130 - let it rest to 135 - eat

[El Ropo]

Don't cook your tri tip like a brisket, cook it like a prime rib roast. Reverse sear works great on these, and don't cook it past med rare.

Beef ribs, most people will cook them similarly to pork ribs, only depending on how meaty they are, they can take longer than an average rack of pork ribs to get "done". If they are nothing but bones, they can get overcooked pretty easy too.

[Moose]

I would not try and smoke a Tri-Tip like a brisket - way too lean a cut of beef and you'll have an awful mess of dry meat on your hands. Tri-Tip is best cooked like a steak. Try reverse searing it like thus, and you'll still get plenty of smoke flavor with this method:

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/sh...d.php?t=124717

For the beef ribs, it sounds like you may have gotten what I call slim pickins dino bones. I see these periodically at the market. Just smoke them till the meat is just about to fall off the bones, but not quite.

In the future, when it comes to beef ribs, try and get beef back ribs. They're quite a bit smaller, but exponentially meatier.

Let us know how everything turns out!

[1buckie]

The above would be a fine way to do the tip, you can also do them long & low at say 215~220 & do pulled beef ~~>





they don't really stall like brisket or pork; I just inject ( I know, cheatin' ) with some kind of marinade that will be savory & compliment beef & that replaces the moisture lost from cooking for long periods.........

For beef ribs what a lot of folks do is smoke for a couple hours & pan w/broth & braize for a couple more.....seems to work pretty good & tenderizes them well..................

[Fishawn]

TT's grown on trees here in WA & cooked a lot of them indirect on kettles, seared, reverse seared, etc..... Last week I decided to try cooking one diffferent, kinda like a brisket..... 250ish on the Performer with Cherry, then foiled about 150-160ish with beer & took to 195ish+-... Let rest 30 minutes & sliced.... I liked it.... Next experiment is "burnt ends" with a TT

[1buckie]

You Bet, Fishawn !!!!

Tri-tip with brisket point next door, upstairs from the bean pan.....



Two days later, thick chunked.....



& TT B. ends....



Easily as good as point, I actually like 'em better.....

[cameraman]

Tri tip like a brisket is this some sort of recurring nightmare?

[HogFan]

So TT will dry out if cooked like a brisket......bummer. Maybe I didn't have a good one but the one I tried before wasn't that great cooked like a steak. I must have misunderstood.......I thought the classic, old school California style TT was cooked low and slow, no? If not, how is it done?

Also, if I smoke to 120F and then reverse sear to 130F, roughly how long does thus take so I can plan a cook for dinner?

[Moose]

The bottom line is that you can cook Tri-Tip like a brisket. You could also cook filet and prime rib like a brisket as well. But why bother? Brisket and chucks lend themselves to long slow cooks due to their inherent toughness where a long cook time can break down their tough meat fibers, not to mention high fat content that provides a juicy finished product that's not possible with Tri-tips and other tender cuts.

Typical California Tri-Tip is most often cooked over red oak and seared first over high heat, then finished over indirect. I prefer reverse searing, and you can read more about that HERE.

To answer your question, how long it takes depends on what your temp is. For the first and indirect part of my cook, I usually am working with a temp of around 300-325, so for a 2-3 lb Tri-Tip, it usually takes about 40-50 mins total cook time. Looks like you have a Weber kettle, so that would be the perfect unit to utilize for a reverse sear and at the temp I mentioned. If you want your meat medium rare, I'd be looking at moving the meat to the hot side when it reaches around 110 degrees, and pull when it hits 125. By the time it's rested, the internal temp should be upwards of 130-135, which is the medium rare zone.

There's another factor that determines the outcome, and that's the quality of the meat. Now matter how perfectly you cook a piece of meat, there can be a wide margin of difference between select vs choice, or even choice vs prime. I don't mind spending a few extra dollars for choice or especially prime when I can get it because I know it will make a huge difference on the plate and palate.

Originally Posted by HogFan

So TT will dry out if cooked like a brisket......bummer. Maybe I didn't have a good one but the one I tried before wasn't that great cooked like a steak. I must have misunderstood.......I thought the classic, old school California style TT was cooked low and slow, no? If not, how is it done?

Also, if I smoke to 120F and then reverse sear to 130F, roughly how long does thus take so I can plan a cook for dinner?

[HogFan]

Thanks for the extra info Moose. I'll cook as you suggest.

You do have my interest about cooking a chuck brisket style. I assume you mean a chuck roast. Anyone tried this? If so, how did it turn out?

[DerHusker]

Originally Posted by HogFan

So TT will dry out if cooked like a brisket......bummer. Maybe I didn't have a good one but the one I tried before wasn't that great cooked like a steak. I must have misunderstood.......I thought the classic, old school California style TT was cooked low and slow, no? If not, how is it done?

Also, if I smoke to 120F and then reverse sear to 130F, roughly how long does thus take so I can plan a cook for dinner?

Hogfan, Traditional Santa Maria style BBQ cooks the meat over a bed of Live Oak coals. (See Video)

http://http://

http://http://http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=I22FodX885c&feature=fvwrel

As far how long a reverse sear cook will take will depend on the temperature of your pit / grill / kamado. First I prepare with a little fresh ground sea salt, then fresh ground pepper, then some whiskey steak seasoning and finally some rosemary flakes. I wrapped in stretch wrap and let this rest in the fridge overnight. I then take my kamado up to around 300 and then put on my TT indirect for approx. 40 minutes. (You can do it lower if you want but the IT needs to hit 115) I then open up my vents all the way and try for around 500/550 before I put the TT on the direct side for 5 minutes per side. Here's a link to one of my cooks.

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/sh...d.php?t=145302

After this I pull and wrap in AF for 15 to 20 minutes and it's ready for slicing. Slicing is tricky, as the grain goes two directions, so I'm linking a video for that as well.

How To Carve A Tri-Tip Roast - TVWB - virtualweberbullet.com - YouTube

Hope this helps.

[Moose]

Originally Posted by HogFan

Thanks for the extra info Moose. I'll cook as you suggest.

You do have my interest about cooking a chuck brisket style. I assume you mean a chuck roast. Anyone tried this? If so, how did it turn out?

Wonderful! I usually do chucks for pulled beef, so I cook it like a pork butt to make Carolina style pulled beef sammies. Delicious stuff. I also do it for taco meat like THIS.

[HogFan]

My grill was too hot and I let it over cook. Just pulled at 145F and wrapped. Hopefully not too dry.

[1buckie]

Just might be med/med well, they'll stay juicy enough unless you go way overboard......

Look back at the carving vid, it's kind of important to get them sliced decent, hope it turns out to be real good !!!!

***Didn't mean to give anyone nightmares about a different cooking method, but I've cooked a huge amount of these things starting in about 1981 & just like to play around & change things up for variety................

The pulled one up above is/was not the least bit dry.....it's like beef flavored soft spagetti.....make ya weak in the knees good......